In the sixteenth and final episode of the third season of Leverage, the team steals a country. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Leverage.
Bless this show forever.Â
This is an ambitious episode, and the writers make that clear from the start. The opening scene sets a terrifying tone to “The San Lorenzo Job,†and it’s not like we didn’t know that Damien Moreau was despicable. But as we watch him take out General Flores, well aware that he’ll get away with it, we understand just how impossible this con seems. (Well, we also get a huge dose of angry-face Eliot, which is almost more upsetting.)
So how does this team steal a country? I went into this episode thinking that the Leverage team would have to somehow compel Moreau to leave San Lorenzo, but it was pretty damn obvious that literally nothing would get him to leave. Why would he? With President Edwin Ribera firmly on his side, able to bend San Lorenzo law on a mere whim, he had every chance to wait out the storm while living a life of luxury. And with Ribera firmly winning the first election in history in his country, there wasn’t a reason to worry that this would ever change.
Enter the Leverage team.
Look, I thought the odds were ridiculous enough, but what made “The San Lorenzo Job†so thrilling and exciting was the decision to have the team pull off a con ENTIRELY IN THE OPEN. While Sophie does grift the general public in San Lorenzo, the rest of the team quickly blows their cover. How long does it take for Moreau to threaten Nate and Hardison? Ten minutes? And from that moment on, the team has to delicately move Michael Vittori into position so that he can not only beat Ribera in an election, but want to be president himself. That’s a two-pronged job, and while the rest of the team does what they can to manipulate events in Vittori’s favor, Sophie has to work on Vittori himself.
AND WHAT A GLORIOUS SPECTACLE THAT IS. I found it very satisfying to watch Vittori’s journey because Sophie helped him find confidence. I wasn’t always good at speaking public, and I honestly hated it until I got to high school. I was coached by my freshman year English teacher into… well, who I am today, if I’m being honest. She was the one who taught me how to keep an audience’s attention. She taught me how to project my voice. She helped me developed my voice – both my physical one and the written voice, since writing for public speaking is different than writing otherwise. I mean, you’re not born knowing what to do with your hands while you’re speaking. (Trust me, if that trips you up, it trips everyone up. It’s such an awkward thing!!!) So I got a real kick out of watching Sophie coach someone to feel better about themselves, to believe in being president. It’s about worth. Sophie had to make Vittori feel like he deserved to run his country.
Of course, there’s a lot of conning and manipulation here in this episode. From spreading rumors, to sending utterly ridiculous advertisements through email, TO ELIOT HOLDING THE CUTEST PUPPY EVER WHILE COMPLETELY SLANDERING PRESIDENT RIBERA ON TELEVISION, the team slowly and confidently chipped away at Ribera’s lead. Given this, I assumed that the plan was to use the cover of the U.N. election monitors to put Vittori in office, who could then take away Moreau’s safe haven. But would that be enough? I mean, couldn’t he just find a new place to live that didn’t honor extradition requests? How do you take down someone who has used his wealth and power to get away with everything?
Can’t believe I didn’t see this: you use his pawns against him.
The solution to this con wasn’t in winning the election, though that certainly played a part in events. The goal wasn’t ever to win the election, so much as it was to turn events so wholly against President Ribera that he would turn on Damien Moreau. How do you do that? Well, you insult him, you have the entire country believe he’s a monster, you keep the threat of U.N. intervention just barely out of reach, and then you offer him an option that’s much better than the endless stress and terror of Damien Moreau. (Did anyone else notice that Nate did the same thing Sophie told Vittori? Frame the choices so that one of them is clearly more appealing.) They didn’t need to steal the country because in the end, they just had Ribera hand Moreau over to them.
IT’S SO MISCHIEVOUS AND I LOVE IT.
I also feel like echoing what Sophie said towards the end of this episode: this team is a real team. It’s so evident in how they look at one another, such as when Flores asks Eliot if he could leave anyone behind, AND HE STARES AT PARKER AND HELP. They’re all far less sloppy then they were years ago. It’s like watching a well-oiled machine at times, except I ship everyone. (Oh god, do I ever. OT3, Parker/Hardison, Nate/Sophie, me/Hardison.) There’s no huge cliffhanger here, aside from Sophie and Nate finally sleeping together again. Which is a big deal, yes, but last season’s closer was LITERALLY UNFAIR. But I’m okay with that. I like that this chapter has closed so definitively. A part of me will miss watching Goran Visnjic act because he’s so entertaining, but I’m also quite interested to see what the next big adventure is for the Leverage team.
THIS SHOW IS SO GOOD.
The video for “The San Lorenzo Job†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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